Unique cargoes require special attention, collaboration and communication, along with the assets and resources to ensure safe and efficient handling. The Port of Olympia prides itself on moving challenging and unique cargoes and has a long track record of success in this field.
As described in The Maritime Executive Magazine in May, the Port of Olympia’s marine terminal is centrally located to serve Puget Sound and the Columbia River Basin, providing ready access to local, regional and international markets. Only one-mile from Interstate 5, ten-miles from the Olympia Regional Airport, and sixty-miles from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, make the port an ideal location to handle any breakbulk shipping needs. On-dock rail service is provided by Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads with switching service provided by Olympia & Belmore Railroad (a Genesee & Wyoming company). The port’s on-dock 76,000 square foot, open beam construction warehouse facility features eight truck doors with self-leveling ramps, six drive-in doors with spans up to 78 feet wide, and rail siding with a built-in fall arrest system with capacity to handle multiple cars.
The Port of Olympia’s historic primary business has been serving as a log yard for the Japan, China and Korea log export market. Log exports support essential domestic lumber and timber price stability which is crucial for many rural communities in the Pacific Northwest and for the customers exposed to pricing risks. This is sustained by having an alternative for periods with over supply.
At the onset of COVID-19, and during the early shutdowns that included the domestic construction industry, having an export log market provided a profitable alternative when no domestic mill was in operation. As such, the domestic wood price, a driver for so many families in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, did not collapse.
The Port of Olympia’s operations and maintenance teams and the highly skilled members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 47 pride themselves in handling the most challenging cargoes. The Port of Olympia is the second largest log exporting port in the Pacific Northwest by volume, averaging 125 million board feet per year, driven by its biggest tenant, Weyerhaeuser. Logs can be challenging to load and provide safety concerns as they are not uniform in size, can roll beneath you, and require lashing for stability at the end of the operation.
Another unique and unusual cargo that has its own set of challenges is the port’s handling of live dairy cattle for export. Dairy farming in Vietnam has increased dramatically as part of their country’s one glass of milk per child per day program. This demand for milk has required more breeding of Holsteins for their higher milk production. As a result, the Port of Olympia has seen over ten shipments of livestock move through the port over the last five years. Each shipment ranges from 1,500 to 2,200 head of cattle along with hay, bedding and feed provisions. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is involved in all steps of this process and have veterinarians overseeing and ensuring the kind treatment and safety of the cattle. Anything that could potentially delay the process could impact the safety of live animals, resulting in a significant challenge. Everyone in Olympia puts the well-being and treatment of the cattle at the forefront of the operation. The Port of Olympia stands alone as the only U.S. West Coast cattle export facility in recent operation.
The Port of Olympia has handled numerous unique cargoes, including locomotives destined for Indonesia, construction equipment from South America, bulk corn from Turkey, gold ore from Ireland, fracking sand in bags from China, heavy lift wind components from Brazil, and steel and aluminum. The port has also handled military cargo and supported long- and short-term layberths. In every situation, the Port has used its depth of knowledge and innovative spirit to ensure the safe and efficient handling of cargo through the port’s logistics process.
Creating a unique partnership that has proven to benefit its customers, the port and ILWU Local 47 approach each customer and cargo as a team. Individuals involved in moving the cargo will be active in pricing and coordinating cargo movements, guaranteeing the customer is the priority. This approach provides a reputation for productivity and trust.
If you are actively pursuing cargo or ship operations and have out of the box needs, consider contacting the Port of Olympia for your solutions. As they say, “Succeed with Us, Choose Olympia.”
This message is sponsored by the Port of Olympia.
A massive fire broke out at the Port of Beirut on Thursday, incinerating a warehouse full of tires and oil within the port’s free zone. The same area was heavily damaged in the ammonium nitrate explosion that leveled the central port area and the adjacent waterfront on August 4. According to Lebanon’s civil defense agency, […]
Over the course of the past five days, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority arranged a medical intervention for an injured aboard a freighter in the Indian Ocean. On Saturday evening, the Spliethoff tweendecker Dolfijngracht called for assistance while under way about 1,000 nauical miles off the coast of Western Australia. A crewmember had sustained serious […]
The UK government’s new post-Brexit tariff regime will result in both winners and losers. The new regime is set to replace the European Union’s Common External Tariff from the end of the Brexit Transition Period on December 31, 2020. The UK’s commitment to the ongoing Brexit process and ending the UK’s transition from EU membership […]
The U-Freight Group (UFL), with its considerable involvement in eCommerce logistics, says that the latest statistics showing that global e-commerce sales hit $25.6 trillion in 2018 are a further vindication of its decision to enter this sector of the international freight market several years ago. The latest available estimates, up 8% from 2017, were recently […]
The First DP2, Twin-Hulled SOV in the World, NB72 Groene Wind met the Sea on September 29. 2020 in Yalova, Turkey. The Groene Wind will be directly chartered to Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy for the maintenance of the Rentel and Mermaid & Seastar (known as SeaMade) offshore wind farms in Belgium. This is the first DP2, […]
DSV Belgium has solid experience in the transport of pharmaceutical products for different customers. With a pharma hub based at Brussels Airport a lot of experience and know-how has been built up over the years. Last weekend, the forwarder handled one hundred million mouth masks, an important milestone for its Belgian organisation that has put […]
Astral Aviation has increased its intra-African network with cargo freighters during the pandemic. While there has been a reduction in capacity to, from, and within Africa, which has been caused by a stoppage of passenger flights and limited frequencies on freighter aircraft, Astral Aviation continues to operate cargo freighters from its Nairobi hub to 13 destinations […]
The naval forces of the US and Bahrain recently staged a joint force training exercise which showcased the interoperability between coalition warships operating I the Arabian Gulf. Coalition Task Force Sentinel executed combined exercise Sentinel Shield supporting Sentry and Sentinel patrols in the coalition’s area of operations. The guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones and […]
Emirates SkyCargo has expanded its weekly scheduled cargo flight operations to cover 75 destinations across six continents. Through its wider reach, Emirates SkyCargo is able to transport essential commodities and other urgently needed cargo more rapidly across the world, allowing exporters and importers across markets to benefit from direct access to widebody cargo capacity. Some […]
With close to 100 daily cargo flights operated to a destination network spanning more than 65 cities across six continents, Emirates SkyCargo is delivering essential supplies and commodities to people around the world. The air cargo carrier is currently operating 11 Boeing 777 freighter aircraft, each with a capacity to transport about 100 tonnes of […]
Best known as a leading passenger airport serving Germany’s most populated federal state North Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf has become transformed into a vital distribution point, during the COVID 19 pandemic, for medical equipment and other life-saving goods, mostly from China. Gerton Hulsman, managing director of cargo operations, reports that the handling teams are working hard to […]
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a Marine Accident Brief about an accident that occurred on April 15, 2019, involving the towing vessel DeJeanne Maria which struck the end of a submerged dredge pipeline while pushing two spud barges to the Gulf of Mexico. The incident occurred on the Mississippi River in Pass […]
Operators can continue to use pilots and other crew members who have unable to comply with certain training, recent experience, testing, and checking requirements due to the COVID-19 outbreak in support of essential operations. Additionally, this Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) provides regulatory relief to certain persons and pilot schools unable to meet duration and […]
Global commercial aviation charter company Albion Aviation Group is reporting that it is seeing a considerable uptake in its professional cargo broker training courses from the current global pandemic crisis and surge in charter demand. “We have completed a number webinar courses for a whole of host of companies, looking to manage their own cargo […]
Callan Marine is serving as the prime contractor to the Texas Department of Transportation for a maintenance dredging project located at the Bolivar Ferry Terminal, in Galveston, Texas. Work began in May and is estimated to be complete in late July 2020. The project consists of the removal of 600,000 cubic yards of material and […]
Network Airline Management and TAAG Angola Airlines are pleased to announce the renewal of their long-term freighter aircraft contract by an additional 12 months, sealing an ongoing partnership for the foreseeable future. Operating a regular weekly scheduled service from Liege, Belgium, to the capital of Angola, Luanda, Network Airline Management provides a Boeing 747-400F aircraft […]
